AFTER TOUCH

For those who grow up in a small town, there’s always that watershed moment in life: do you stay or do you go?

The members of Easy Life came together during this crucial juncture in their lives. Instead of choosing a destination, Easy Life (now After Touch) created a vivid collage of the anxieties and emotions of life in a regional coastal town on There Can’t Be This Much Water In The Sky.

‘After Touch’, comprising of vocalist Max Pasalic, guitarists Jack Rankin and Jesse Mate-Gallo, bassist Kurt Haywood and drummer Jordan Pranic, formed in 2014 with the goal of escaping their small town and taking the unknown road. Fueled by ambition, in their short time together, Easy Life found a home on triple j Unearthed Radio with an Artist Spotlight and “I’m Fading Away” added to rotation. They also won a mainstage slot at Yours and Owls festival, courtesy of the station.

“Growing up in a small town, there’s not a lot of opportunity,” continues Pasalic. “The trajectory for a lot of kids is either you go to year 10, you get a trade and that’s your life or you go to year 12, get a university degree and move to Sydney and that’s your life. I can sit in my town and live a simple life for myself, or I can choose the left-hand path and take the next step.”

The last song on the EP “I’ll Leave You Behind” culminates with Shia LaBeouf reading the words: “nothing can define me. Not my anxiety. Not own mind. Just myself”. The line is a piece Pasalic submitted as part of LaBeouf, Rönkkö & Turner’s #andintheend performance art at the Sydney Opera House in 2016. A fitting end to an EP that sees the Shellharbour Sweethearts embracing their fears wholeheartedly.